The Other Side of the Pokéball
by Fa6ex
Summary: An experiment conducted by Silph Company goes horribly wrong and Brent finds himself alone and in a foreign body. In the process, he goes through a wild journey of discovery, finding a side of Pokémon he never suspected existed, along with the dark truth about Silph and their products.
1. Prologue

**Chapter 0 – Prologue**

Kataskot shot through the forest, her black and white coat blurring into grey. She weaved around trees and leapt through bushes, spraying leaves, sticks, and dirt in her desperate race against time. Several Pokémon voiced their displeasure as per the rude awakening, but she ignored them and focused on maintaining her rhythm. Being awoken in the middle of the night seemed like an insignificant motive to be angry about in the face of what was to come if she stopped to apologize for the inconvenience. Besides, they'd all know better than to stay in one place. Her message was clear.

Her scythe pulsed with an eerie purple light and the familiar shivering jolt of her disaster sense ran down her spine for what felt like the hundredth time. Ever since she started her journey, her Sense had been firing off with increasing frequency and intensity. She couldn't tell what the exact nature of the disaster was, but there were two things she was sure of: many humans and Pokémon were going to die soon and if she stayed, she was going be one of them. So she ran.

However, she wasn't merely fleeing. She had a destination in mind, which was already visible in the distance: a waterfall feeding into a small lake at the end of a gorge.

As the forest gave way to rocky ground, she looked around her. Countless Shroomish, Foongus, and Morelull were nestled in with the moss and lichen lining the walls of the gorge, along with several Geodude and Roggenrola eating pieces of the walls.

' _Hopefully, it doesn't fall on us._ ' Kataskot mused as she regarded the numerous holes on the rock face around her, likely the result of the rock-types' actions.

However, she couldn't focus on that. Time was against her, on two opposing fronts, one from her Sense and another from her slowly depleting energy reserves. She couldn't afford a distraction now. She had to keep running.

As she approached the lake, the walls began to converge on themselves, narrowing into a gaping underpass. There was a small cave on the wall past the lake and to the left of the waterfall.

She narrowed her eyes in concentration as she channeled the last bits of her strength into her paws and put on a final burst of speed. She leapt clear across the lake, landing on the mouth of the cave with less than a paw-length to spare.

Her forelegs gave out as soon as she landed, sending her tumbling. Ironically, her scythe, the sole bringer of her misfortune, found purchase on the rocky surface, stopping her from spinning out of control.

She yelped as she crashed to a stop against a stalagmite. Not bothering to adjust her awkward position, she laid there, panting heavily. She hated to admit it, but her mad dash through the forest had put a significant drain on her stamina and almost made her fail her jump. That would've been as much of a disaster as not heeding her Sense's call.

«Kataskot! What happened? Are you okay?» The familiar cadence of pokéspeech rang out. She looked up to see a purple-maned Zoroark looking down at her.

«I'm fine, Sevisi.», she waved off his concern, while trying to get up. «I need to speak to Medessal. It's urgent.»

«Whoa, whoa. First, we're going to take care of those injuries. I won't have you bleeding out on me.» Injuries? She looked herself over and, sure enough, her hide was crisscrossed with cuts and bruises, most likely caused by close encounters with trees, bushes or even rocks that were sharper than they needed to be.

«I'll be fine, they're just tiny scratches.», she insisted. «I have to- agh!» Her disaster sense went off once again, as strong as a Thunderbolt.

The Zoroark, recognizing the glow on her scythe, quickly connected the dots and adopted a more serious demeanor. «I'll call Medessal over. Don't go anywhere.»

«Hey, wait!» But he had already sped off. She growled in exasperation. While his concern for her well-being was nice, she was perfectly capable of reaching Medessal herself. It wasn't like she didn't know her way around the Labyrinth.

She attempted once again to get on her paws. With some difficulty and pain, she managed. The adrenaline rush from her marathon and the constant nagging of her Sense must've made her oblivious to the injuries she got on the way.

A sudden pop interrupted her thoughts. She turned her head to the source of the sound and saw Sevisi and a familiar Alakazam standing before her, the mystical energies of Miracle Eye floating above his head.

" _What did you see?_ ", his deep, echoing voice rang in her head. She understood that as a request for permission for him to delve into her memories, so she granted it.

«Feel free to browse.» With that, all three of his eyes lit up with psychic energy. Afterimages of her experiences from the past hour whizzed by at dizzying speeds as he scanned her memories, all the way from her initial panic upon the first warning from her Sense. The whole process took no longer than thirty seconds.

Usually, such an intervention from a psychic type would cause some sort of pain or discomfort to the subject, but Medessal was no ordinary psychic. He was the oldest, most intelligent and most powerful Alakazam in existence, able to stand toe-to-toe against even Mewtwo, the self-proclaimed "most powerful Pokémon". Because of that, he was highly respected even among non-psychic types.

" _There is nothing we can do. Everything has already been set in motion._ "

«What?» For a moment, Kataskot thought the Alakazam's old age had finally caught up to him and that he was going insane.

However, no sooner had she entertained that notion, her Sense activated, stronger than it ever had been before. She howled in pain and collapsed as the fury of a million Zapdos coursed through her body.

However, as soon as it began, it faded, leaving only the sickening calm after the storm. Spots began forming in her vision as the aftermath of her species's curse descended upon her. She barely felt the Alakazam teleporting them away and she definitely didn't feel the shockwave that came a few seconds afterwards that made the cave walls tremble.

" _It has begun. Good luck to you, little one, for you will need it._ "


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

My shoulders and pectoral muscles burned. It was cold, very cold, but I barely felt that. The only way I could tell was how my lips were cracked and bleeding from the frigid winds. The physical activity I'd done in the past hour made me otherwise immune to the effects of low temperature.

"Down!", a voice barked. My muscles burned even more with the effort as I went down with a grunt, holding my chest just above the snow-covered ground.

"Did I not make myself clear? I said _no one_ touch the fucking ground!", I heard the same voice again, followed by what was most likely snow hitting someone's face. "Up!" I growled as I forced my failing arms to support my weight. "I said UP!" I briefly looked up, thinking the man was talking to me, but it wasn't the case. I heard a whimper as I finally managed to fully stretch my arms.

"I c-can't", he heard someone say. The man scoffed.

"What a weakling. Get this waste of space out of here." I inwardly sighed. Another one down. From the thousands of people that applied to the training program advertised by Silph Company, only four remained. Granted, I thought it obvious it wasn't just about whipping people into shape, and I was sure most other people who entered knew that too. However, the ten thousand pokédollars reward to those who completed it convinced me to ignore that little detail. Besides, I was fairly confident in my ability and in my physical fitness and I was used to the military-like system that was being employed here.

"Alright, get the fuck up and start running! Ten laps!" The ad mentioned the activities were going to be conducted in the Silph side compound, a massive building as wide and as long as the original Silph Company building was tall. It had no windows and was painted entirely in grey with the exception of the very top of the dome-like roof. There, it had a steel sculpture of the Silph logo, an 'S' made up of two halves of a pokéball, one on top of the other, the lower half being red, and the top half being purple. Around the compound there were several fields where all the exercises were done. There was a little bit of everything: obstacle courses, monkey bars, scalable walls and many more. In particular, there was also the stamina course, which went all the way around the field surrounding the building. That was the one we were going to run on. Needless to say, it was going to be a long trek. The past hour had been extremely demanding, but I really enjoyed the exertion.

After another hour or so of gruelling physical activity, during which another one of our group gave up, our instructor called us in. The moment we lined up and stood to attention, his demeanor suddenly changed. 

"Congratulations." He said. "As the only ones left standing, you have all passed the test." Test? I guess I was right in assuming it wasn't just a training program. "Now, clean yourselves up and go eat something. You are to meet at the entrance of the main building in forty-five minutes. Your bank accounts will be credited shortly." With that, he saluted us and walked away. We had been introduced to the baths, sleeping chambers and the buffet the day before. It was a relatively small building off to the side of the field. It had only a few dozen bedrooms, which was odd, since so many people applied. I guess they weren't really expecting too many to get past the first day.

We hurried to the baths, eager to get rid of the filth we had accumulated over the entire day.

Forty-two minutes later, I was waiting at the door we had been assigned to. The other two guys from our group were already there. We exchanged nods and then waited.

Two minutes later, the door opened with the sound of hydraulics. A man I didn't recognize greeted us. 

"Hello gentlemen, my name is Julius, and I am instructor Kalian's second in command. Kalian was the one who conducted the test that was assigned to you. Please follow me." He led us down a steel framed corridor, lined with cameras and what looked like smoke detectors, along with several other devices I didn't recognize. "As I'm sure you're aware, there's more to this test than what was previously advertised." As we arrived at a double door, he pressed his index finger against a device on it. It flashed green, opening the doors. He kept walking as he spoke. "The terms will be discussed in the meeting chamber, which is where we are currently heading toward. Upon reading the terms, you will have until the end of tomorrow to make your decision." We arrived at a black metal door. Once again, Julius pressed his finger to a sensor. It flashed green, but the door didn't open. Was there something wrong?

"Welcome to the meeting chambers.", a robotic voice said. "Please enter your meeting ID and the number of participants." He pressed a few buttons on a holographic keyboard. "Entries accepted. Please enter in an orderly fashion." With that, the massive door swung outward. It was abnormally thick, at least 20 centimeters. Now that was some security.

"Come. Enter in single file, you don't want to know what happens if you do otherwise." I decided to take his advice to heart and went in third.

As we entered the meeting room and the door behind us closed, the entire room lit up with bright white light. The ceiling had a rather large LED cluster, while the walls, which, as far as I could tell, formed a perfect square, the floor and even the wooden table in the middle of the room had a few single LEDs scattered just beneath their surfaces, creating a somewhat surreal effect.

Another door suddenly opened, tearing me from my reverie. A man, clad completely in black and carrying a suitcase, came in. He put the suitcase on the table and opened it.

"Thank you, Gerald." Julius said. The man in black walked to the upper-right corner, where he stood with his arms crossed and an unreadable expression, watching us. "Don't mind him." Julius went towards the table and put the suitcase's contents on it. "These are the contracts. You may stay here for up to an hour, but if you wish to take more time to decide, you will have to take the contract to your dorms. I will return in one hour." With that, he left, leaving only Gerald and our test group in the room. I grabbed one of the contracts and began reading it:

 _Contract for services rendered  
_

 _This Contract is between Silph Company Ltd, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the region of Kanto, with its principal office located at 6 Central Avenue, Saffron City, Kanto, referred to herein as Carrier, and _ (name) of _ (street address, city, region), herein referred to as the Contractor._

 _For an in consideration for the mutual covenants contained in this Contract, and other good and valuable considerations, both parties agree as follows:_

 _ **A.** The Contractor is to provide services in nature of scientific experimentation, authorized under the terms of the Kanto Law, Section 242.7(a)._

 _ **B.** The true nature of the scientific experiment mentioned in **A.** is not to be revealed to the Contractor until they (the Contractor) accept the terms above and below, sign the present Contract, and the Carrier confirms its validity as per their (the Carrier's) terms._

 _ **C.** The scientific experiment mentioned in **A.** is to be conducted in the Silph Side Compound, located at 12 Route 8, Saffron City, Kanto._

 _ **D.** Should the Contractor accept the terms above and below, the Carrier will award them (the Contractor) an initial paymentof 5000,00p (five-thousand pokédollars and zero pokénts)._

 ** _E._** _Should the Contractor accept the terms above and below, they (the Contractor) will be legally bound to this present Contract and are to stay within the confines of the location where the scientific experiment mentioned in_ ** _A._** _will be conducted, as mentioned in_ ** _C._** _. Failure to do so will incur penalty as mentioned in the terms of the Kanto Law, Section 242.8._

 ** _F._** _Further terms and conditions, including, but not limited to, additional payments and housing are to be discussed between the Carrier and the Contractor, with no legal influence on this present Contract._

 _I, as the Contractor, as per _/_/_ (current date), hereby agree to the terms mentioned above and accept to be legally bound to this present Contract._

 _(Contractor's Signature)_

I put the contract back on the table and mulled over what I had just read. An outright payment of five thousand was a very attractive offer. I pulled out my phone, acessing my bank accound and, sure enough, it was ten thousand pokés fatter. Having five thousand, possibly more, like the contract suggested, extra was extremely tempting.

On the other hand, I couldn't ignore the fact that I didn't know what exactly this was all about and that I would only know once I could no longer back out. It was also fairly clear they wanted to experiment on me, to have a human test subject. In addition, such high entry rewards could only mean that, whatever it was, it was going to involve risk, lots of it. What could they possibly be testing that met those two criteria? Silph Company dealt primarily in Pokémon acessories and consumables like pokéballs, TMs, potions and elixirs. None of that suggested any kind of particularly risky activities. It just didn't make any sense.

"Gentlemen." A voice interrupted my thoughts. "Have you decided yet?" It was Julius. Wow, had one hour already passed?

"I need more time to think over this." Said one of the guys, a burly bald man with a surprisingly squeaky voice. Lewis was his name.

"I think I need more time as well... too much to consider at once." I spoke next.

"Sorry guys..." All eyes were on Andre, the final member of our group, a tall, dark-skinned man with bushy hair and beard. "...I can't stay. I got a wife 'n kids. This seems like a really dangerous thing from the looks of it. I don't wanna leave 'em without a father if things go south, ya know what I mean?" I've never had a family of my own, but Andre's situation still resonated deeply with me. Was I ready to leave my loved ones, if it really came to it?

"Very well." Julius said. He seemed slightly disappointed, but also understanding. "Follow me. I will escort you gentlemen out. Don't forget your contracts." I quickly grabbed mine and started after Julius.

As we exited the dome-like building, Julius adressed us.

"Lewis, Brent, you are now to head to your dormitories. When you reach a decision, come back here and ring the bell." He pointed at a green button with an outline of a bell on it. He then turned to Andre. "Andre, please follow me, I have arranged transportation to take you back home."

"I guess this is where we part, heh?" I said.

"Yeah, man." He sighed. "It was nice meeting ya both." We fist bumped each other "Take care."

"You too. Best wishes to you and your family" Lewis said, as he punched Andre's fist. They arm-wrestled each other in that position for a few seconds and then broke off.

"Try not to get ya'selves killed." With that, he walked off with Julius.

The way to the dorms was spent in complete silence. We both knew what was in the other's mind, but in unspoken consent we decided not to speak about it.

I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. My earlier thoughts about the contract began replaying over and over in my head. However, no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't reach a decision. The pros and cons seemed to balance themselves out in a way that, no matter which option I took, the others would always seem better when I looked back on them.

I yawned. Maybe I was just tired, and a good night's sleep would make things clearer. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea. I took off my clothes, put on my pajamas and pulled the covers over myself, closing my eyes. Sleep came within seconds.

I blinked my eyes open. Dense greenery surrounded me from all sides. I looked up, seeing the full moon shine directly on my face, somehow completely unobstructed by the trees above. I basked on its gentle glow, allowing it to embrace me completely. For the longest time, I just stood there, letting more and more of the light seep into me and letting its image hypnotize me. Here, I was at peace. Here, all the world's problems melted away, replaced by nothing but sheer bliss.

After an indefinite amount of time, I began feeling something I had never experienced before: A strange quasi-nervous excitement. As the odd emotion grew in intensity, I realized it actually felt familiar, even though I wasn't really sure how. It felt like everything I had done in the past was leading to this very moment. The feeling then morphed into something deeper, more primal, no longer just excitement, but an instinctual _need_. Like whatever I was doing was a part of my life's purpose. It was at that moment that, like a bolt of lightning, understanding struck me.

It was _time_!

The feeling of excitement peaked and I trew my head back in a silent scream. The vegetation around me suddenly lit up in bright white light.

I sprang up from the bed, breathing heavily. Not from fear, but from sheer, unadultered exhilaration. I smiled.

' _What the hell was that?!_ ', I thought. Never before in my life had my dreams been so realistic, vivid and emotionally charged. I took a few minutes to calm down so I could think clearly.

After I had my breathing under control and after I managed to stop smiling like an idiot, I began doing my morning routine, all the while trying to dissect the dream I just had. I knew people sometimes had especially vivid dreams, more so than normal, specially those who had frequent contact with powerful psychic types. It was scientifically proven the energies exuded by those Pokémon had a positive effect on most people, sometimes even turning them into psychics themselves, if the contact was frequent enough. An example of such a thing happening was Sabrina, the famous psychic type Gym leader.

However, I never had much contact with Pokémon, let alone psychic types. It's not like I disliked Pokémon, on the contrary, but I didn't have time or space to keep Pokémon as pets or as fighters, like many people who liked them did. I did enjoy watching Pokémon battles, however. I admired how the trainers made split second decisions based on the circumstances and I found the Pokémon's endurance and spirit very impressive. They sometimes took hits that would usually kill or cripple a human with barely a flinch and they would never back down from a fight even if in the face of insurmountable odds, such as a massive difference in size. Very tough creatures they were. I prided myself on my endurance, strength and discipline, in fact, that was one of the reasons why I jumped at the prospect of the "training program". It was a way to test myself. However, I knew it was very unlikely for any human being to reach such a level.

My thoughts went back to the contract, and I made my decision. The dream had indirectly helped me in that regard by reminding me what I lived for - become the strongest I can be both in body and in mind, by training as hard as possible every day. The experiment would serve as the greatest of tests.

I still couldn't make heads or tails of the dream and I didn't think that was going to change anytime soon. There were just too many variables. Besides, it was really just a dream. As weird as it was, it wasn't going to affect my life. Right?

Confident in my choice, I signed the contract, taking it with me and, after eating a quick breakfast, went towards the main building. When I arrived at the door, I rang the bell. A melodious succession of three notes rang out, forming a major chord. Soon after, a previously hidden panel on the door opened, revealing a camera.

"Ah, Brent. Good morning." A voice sounded from the door, slightly twisted by electronics, but still recognizable as Julius's. "I'll be there in two minutes." With that, the panel closed seamlessly.

After what felt like not even a minute, the door opened with the same hydraulic, steamy sound, revealing Julius.

"So, what is your decision?" He asked me.

I took a deep breath and passed him the signed contract. "I accept." Instantly, his face lit up.

"Splendid! Come in, we will start right away." He walked at a brisk pace, leading me through the same corridor as last time. "We will reveal what we have in store for you shortly. In addition, your bank account will be credited within six hours." After passing through the double doors, he turned left. He took a small device out of his pocket and tapped on it once. After that, he held it up in front of him, as if he was showing someone a badge. Ahead, there were a few green lights on the walls and ceiling, as well as another set of double doors a few meters past that.

"Welcome to the research unit." I heard a robotic voice say, as we passed through the glowing green grid. The doors ahead of us opened, revealing what seemed to be an abnormally spacious elevator. Julius pocketed the display and we entered, the doors closing behind us. The ceiling lit up and I felt the tiniest of jolts as the elevator went down. It kept going for a while, until it finally stopped, as smoothly as it had started. The doors opened once again and we walked into a blue-lit room, with several cabinets filled with different types of equipment, such as gloves, boots, helmets and others I didn't recognize, along with a few fitting rooms.

"This is the safe room." Julius said, as he opened two of the cabinets and took a pair of gloves from one and a face mask from the other. "It's part of the protocol. We need to be wearing these at all times. Go ahead." He fit his gloves and his mask in, and I followed his example.

After that, he led me through a laboratory filled with people, into another laboratory filled to the brim with highly sophisticated machinery. Then he stopped, turned to me with the biggest smile on his face.

"Welcome to the second level of the Research Unit." He said. "It's time I told you what this is really all about. This beauty right here..." He slapped a cylindrical, almost urn-like machine. "...is our greatest achievement. It took us thirty-eight years to get to this point, but we finally did it. We've managed to isolate a Pokémon's essence, their very being! And this, as we called her, the Soul Merger, will do just as her name suggests: it will combine your DNA with our captured essence. That can have two results. If your body rejects it, nothing will happen. If it doesn't, however, it will merge with you, granting you some interesting abilities."

I wasn't too convinced by what he was saying, but at this point I didn't have much of a choice, as I was legally bound by the contract, so I indulged him. "What kind of abilities?"

"Pokémon abilities." He simply answered. I raised an eyebrow. "By that, I don't mean fire breathing or water spouting, as those are specific to certain Pokémon. I'm talking about the innate traits all Pokémon share which, when transferred over to you, will result in a longer life, greater physical endurance and a better immune system."

"What happens after that?"

"Well, for starters, we'll do some measurements and some physical tests. We'll want to see how much you improve. Afterwards, we may feed you some Pokémon-only consumables." He winked at me. "You know, since you'll be part Pokémon, those may work on you. Any other questions?"

"No, no... I guess we can start." This was it. Suddenly, I was feeling very nervous. Julius seemed to pick up on that.

"Hey, don't worry. We've tested this extensively. The worst thing that can happen is absolutely nothing." Somehow I doubted that. "Anyway, I need you to put everything you're carrying inside that box over there," He pointed to a box to his left. "including your clothes. Nothing inorganic may go inside the Merger. You can wear those." He motioned to a cabinet next to the box. "I'll call the team over so we can start." He turned around and walked to the far wall, allowing me some privacy. I quickly stripped then took a pale green robe from the cabinet, putting it on.

"Alright, they'll be here soon." He then grabbed the small device from earlier and tapped on it a few times. Several lights turned on, including some on the Soul Merger, and I began hearing a low hum.

The entrance door suddenly opened, revealling a few people, none of which I recognized. Julius greeted them and waved them over. Pleasantries were exchanged, then he opened the Soul Merger's lid. "It's time." he said. Swallowing my trepidation, I laid down on the cool plastic surface. He closed the lid and gave me a thumbs-up, which I hesitantly returned, then walked towards his colleagues. "Alright guys, let's do this." I heard Julius's voice, not as muffled as I expected. Everyone scattered and sat down in front of glowing monitors.

"Start the Merge." He said.

"Upping generators to one-hundred percent." The hum grew in intensity.

"Energy levels are stable. Increasing output to thirty percent."

"The essence isn't reacting."

"Gotcha. Cranking it up to fifty."

"Still nothing."

"Going to sixty."

"I think I see something. Go a little bit slower now."

"Sixty-five."

"Alright, it's expanding now. Keep it there. Growth rate seems to be stable."

"Hang in there, Brent."

"Essence size is at one-hundred eighteen percent. Growth rate is still stable. Approximate time until desired size is forty-seven seconds."

"T minus thirty."

"T minus twenty..."

"Ten... get ready to open the valve."

"Five..."

"This is it, Brent! Get ready to make history!"

"Three...two...one...open." As soon as he said that, I felt a goosebump running from my head all the way to the tip of my feet, and then pain. My entire body lit up as if on fire. I screamed and tried to curl up in the cramped space, trying to somehow alleviate my suffering, to no avail.

"Fuck! That wasn't supposed to happen! Close the valve!" I heard someone say.

"I can't! It's exerting some sort of force over the mechanism!"

"Growth rate is through the roof!"

"Turn it off then!"

"I can't! If I do that he'll suffocate!"

"What can we do then?"

"I think we're..." An explosion muffled whatever they were going to say. I felt a shock on top of all the pain and I vaguely heard the deep bass sound of another explosion. After that, I knew no more.


End file.
